About Alder House

Founded on the idea that good financial conversations change things.

We set out to create a practice where financial topics could be discussed without pressure, without product recommendations, and without the assumption that participants already know the language.

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Our Story

Why we started, and how we work.

Alder House began with a simple observation: most people who struggle with personal finances are not struggling because they lack discipline — they are struggling because nobody ever showed them a clear, calm picture of how the pieces fit together.

The name comes from the alder tree — a tree that grows steadily in conditions that would discourage others, and whose wood has long been used for structures meant to last. We thought it was an apt image for what sound financial habits look like over time: nothing dramatic, but quietly durable.

We opened our Cyberjaya studio in 2021 to serve working adults in the Klang Valley who wanted to understand their finances better — their EPF contributions, their cash flow, their spending patterns, their medium-term plans. The studio is a physical space with a round table and natural light, designed for focused conversation rather than presentations.

Since then, we have run over two hundred individual and group sessions. We have worked with fresh graduates navigating their first pay slips, mid-career professionals trying to build a clear household picture, and couples working through the first serious conversation about what they want the next ten years to look like.

We do not hold a Capital Markets Services Licence. We do not recommend investment products. Our role is to help you understand your situation well enough that whatever decisions you make are made with your eyes open.

200+

Sessions completed since 2021

Focused programmes, sized for their purpose

Maximum participants per group cohort

Sessions conducted in English

Our mission

To provide financial education that helps working adults in Malaysia build a clearer relationship with their own money — one conversation at a time.

Our approach

Small groups, printed materials, and a facilitator who is there to help you understand — not to sell. Sessions are paced by the participant, not by a slide deck.

Our commitment

Your financial information stays within the session. We do not share participant data with third parties or use it to inform product marketing.

Our Team

The people who run the sessions.

Our facilitators come from backgrounds in financial planning, adult education, and household economics. None of them are there to close a sale.

Siti Rahmah

Lead Facilitator

Siti has worked in personal finance education for nine years, previously with a national financial literacy programme. She leads the Five-Year Plan engagements and the Young Professionals course.

Farid Hamdan

Facilitator

Farid spent several years in retail banking before moving into education. He facilitates the Monthly Walk-Through sessions and assists with group cohorts when enrolment is at capacity.

Lim Kai-Ling

Programme Coordinator

Kai-Ling manages enrolment, schedules sessions, and prepares the reading materials sent ahead of each group week. She is typically the first person you will hear from when you enquire.

Standards We Hold

How we try to get this right.

No product recommendations

Our facilitators do not recommend, endorse, or receive commissions on any financial product. Conversations stay educational throughout.

Participant data protection

Financial details shared during sessions are held in confidence. We comply with Malaysia's Personal Data Protection Act 2010 in all our data handling.

Current, reviewed materials

Programme reading materials are reviewed before each new cohort to reflect current EPF contribution rates, insurance benchmarks, and Malaysian tax context.

Capped group sizes

We do not run group sessions beyond eight participants. Quality of conversation matters more to us than revenue per cohort.

Clear written agreements

Before any paid engagement begins, participants receive a short written agreement covering scope, format, fees, and our data handling commitments.

Post-session feedback

We ask participants for written feedback after every programme. It shapes how we revise our materials and adjust session pacing over time.

Our Values

A practice built on considered choices.

The decision to keep Alder House small and studio-based was deliberate. Larger formats tend to shift facilitation towards presentation — which suits some purposes but not the kind of open, back-and-forth conversation that financial education requires. When a participant stops a session to say they do not understand something, that moment needs space. It needs a facilitator who is paying attention to the room, not to a slide count.

We have also made a deliberate choice about what we do not offer. We do not offer tax planning, investment management, or insurance brokerage. We are not set up to do those things well, and we believe the participants who come to us are better served by knowing exactly what they are getting: a careful, structured conversation about their own financial situation, conducted by someone with no stake in the outcome.

The Five-Year Written Plan is the most involved programme we offer, and it is priced accordingly. But the most common starting point for new participants is the Monthly Walk-Through — ninety minutes that, for many people, represents the first time they have ever sat with a professional and looked closely at one month's cash flow. That kind of beginning is worth something on its own, and we try to make sure it holds up as a standalone experience, not just a gateway to a larger sale.

We are based in Cyberjaya because the population there — young, professional, educated — tends to be at exactly the stage where a clearer financial picture becomes valuable. First pay slips. EPF contributions beginning. First insurance choices. First serious conversations about whether renting or buying makes sense. These are not complicated topics, but they benefit from a few hours of structured attention.

Get in Touch

We would be glad to hear from you.

If you have a question about any of our programmes or would simply like to understand which option might suit you, write to us. We are straightforward in our replies.

Write to Alder House